The first Black African recipient of the Nobel Prize was Albert Luthuli. He received the prize for peace in 1960. Nadine Gordimer was the First White African woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize. She won it for literature in 1991. Other Africans have received awards in five Nobel Prize categories: Chemistry, Literature Peace, Physics and Physiology or Medicine.

Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made history when she became the world's first black woman elected president. She was also Africa's first elected female head of state - president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018.

King Ezana (also known as Abreha or Aezana) was the first Christian monarch of Ethiopia, from the Kingdom of Aksum (which cuts across present-day countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan and Egypt). King Ezana reigned from about 320 to 360CE. He is said to have succeeded his father, Ella Amida while still a child.

One of the oldest universities in the world is the University of Timbuktu, now in Mali. In the 12th century, the University had about 25,000 students in a city that had 100, 000 people. The ancient mosques, tombs and monuments of the university in Timbuktu comprised the Masajid of Djinguereber, the Masajid of Sidi Yahya, and the Masajid of Sankore.

She on took the name Chikamoneka (meaning “victory will be seen”) for her fearless attitude in Northern Rhodesia‘s independence struggle and as a mantle to cover her operations during the independence struggle.

1 million to 1.25 million white Christian Europeans were enslaved in North Africa, from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century, by slave traders from Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli.